Wendy Kirkland - The Music's on Me

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:02
Size: 122,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:47)  1. The Music in Me
(4:52)  2. Haven't We Met
(8:23)  3. Pools
(3:11)  4. Sandalia Dela
(5:50)  5. Playground
(1:32)  6. Nothing Like You
(7:52)  7. September Second
(4:55)  8. West Coast Blues
(3:14)  9. O Gato Molhado
(4:15) 10. Sunday In New York
(5:04) 11. Travelling Home

It has been two years since Wendy Kirkland released her debut album, Piano Divas, and with the success of the recording and subsequent tours has firmly established herself as a first rate pianist and vocalist, an accolade that has been long overdue as Kirkland has been plying her trade as a professional musician for more than twenty years. Now with the release of her new album, The Music's On Me, there can now be no doubt that she is poised to take her place as one of the very best. Everything about The Music's On Me indicate that Wendy has taken a huge step forward. From the song selection, arrangements, through to performance and recording it is all there, with all the hard work paying off handsomely. Overall the album has a much more contemporary feel than its predecessor, yet there is no mistaking the identity of performer or the development and growth from the earlier recording. The quartet are by now well played in, and in a perfect position to interpret the arrangements, and play as a seamless unit. Bass and drums are rock solid swinging effortlessly, with Wendy and Pat Sprakes bringing their understanding of each others playing to bear so that is often as much a joy to hear how they support each other as the individual solos themselves. From the opening number, 'The Music In Me', written by Wendy and husband/guitarist, Pat Sprakes, there is a confidence and swagger in the performance that is reassuringly affecting. 

The vocals are relaxed and warm with guitar and piano getting in deeply swinging solos. This trick is also repeated on the very next number, 'Haven't We Met' where Wendy accompanies herself on a piano/scat solo that is quite exhilarating. The regular quartet are joined by a couple of special guests, with saxophonist Tommaso Starace and Roger Beaujolais on vibes featuring on two numbers apiece. The vibesman is heard to sterling effect on 'Pools' that I always associate with the stellar, Steps Ahead group, and Russell Malone's 'Playground', that along with Wendy's delightful vocals contributes a solo that is uniquely his own while still being in total empathy with Wendy and the song.  The saxophonist is heard on alto on 'September Second'  with a beautifully languid solo that captures the mood of Michel Petrucciani's lovely composition, switching to soprano saxophone for 'Travelling Home', another Kirkland/Sprakes original, playing sensuously melodic lines accompanying the vocal along with a solo that contributes to bringing the album to a satisfying close. 

The feeling throughout the album is a joyous affair from start to finish, and with Wendy now playing with an assurance that indicates that perhaps she is starting to really believe in herself, and quite rightly so too. With confidence riding high, Wendy is not just content to produce another highly enjoyable album in The Music's On Me, but also has the audacity with her version of Don Grolnick's 'Pools'  to hint at the possible direction of a future album, taking things along an even tougher and modern approach. Adding lyric's to Grolnick's fine contemporary composition, the pianist then delivers another example of her simultaneous piano/scat solo, prior to digging in on piano with a solo that  steals the show and is the highlight of an already impressive album. https://www.jazzviews.net/wendy-kirkland---the-musics-on-me.html

Personnel: Wendy Kirkland (piano & voice); Pat Sprakes (guitar); Paul Jefferies (bass guitar & double bass); Steve Wyndham (drums); Roger Beaujolais (vibraphone); Tommaso Starace (saxophones)

The Music's on Me

---

Jacques Loussier - Beautiful Love

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:56
Size: 180,3 MB
Art: Front

( 4:37)  1. Andante
( 5:04)  2. Fantasy in C Minor
( 2:43)  3. Mack the Knife
( 4:02)  4. Aie Pitié De Moi, Ô Seigneur Dieu
( 3:26)  5. Air (Orchestral Suite No. 3)
( 2:58)  6. Sarabande
(11:20)  7. Fantaisie Et Fugue En Sol Mineur
( 3:47)  8. Stay Well
( 2:27)  9. Mon Ami, My Friend
( 4:08) 10. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire
( 6:19) 11. Prelude No. 1
( 2:40) 12. Polly's Song
( 2:00) 13. Le Tango Des Matelots
( 4:38) 14. Concerto After the Italian Taste
( 2:56) 15. Prelude No. 16
( 2:45) 16. Oh, Heart of Love
( 5:05) 17. Fantaisie En Ut Mineur
( 1:59) 18. Minuet 1 & 2
( 4:54) 19. Prelude No. 8

An acclaimed French pianist known for his jazz interpretations of classical works, Jacques Loussier rose to prominence leading his trio in the 1960s. A gifted classical musician in his youth, Loussier gravitated toward jazz and issued a series of innovative, genre-bending albums under the Play Bach title in which he reworked the music of Johanne Sebastian Bach. Over the years, he applied this same approach to works by other classical composers, and even expanded his palette, exploring electronics and Latin-traditions on albums like 1979's Pulsion, 1999's Ravel: Bolero, and 2011's Schumann: Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood). He also composed for film and television, working out of his Studio Miraval in Provence. Following a stroke in 2011 he retired from the stage and passed away in 2019 at the age of 84. Loussier was born in 1934 in Angers, France to a banker and homemaker. He first started taking piano lessons around age ten. Soon after, he discovered the music of Bach, including pieces like "Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach" and "Prelude in G Minor." He became entranced, often improvising naturally upon the themes in the pieces. By his teens he had moved to Paris where he studied privately with noted pianist Yves Nat, delving deeper into Bach, as well as composers like Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, and Camille Saint-Saëns. He enrolled at the Conservatoire National Musique and continued to expand his skills outside of class playing jazz gigs at local bars. While at school he began to compose, and further solidified his third stream approach fusing classical with jazz.

Following his graduation, he embarked on a fruitful career as an accompanist, working with a bevy of marquee singers including Charles Aznavour, Frank Alamo, Catherine Sauvage, and others. He was able to travel and soak up the musical traditions of other parts of the world including that of the Middle East and Latin America. He also formed his own trio with bassist Pierre Michelot and drummer Christian Garros. Known for their jazz reworkings of Bach pieces, the trio debuted with a series of albums on Decca beginning with Play Bach No. 1 in 1959 and culminating in Play Bach Aux Champs Elysees in 1965. A major success for Loussier, the trio toured and recorded for 15 years, moving from Decca to Philips/Phonogram in the early '70s and selling over six million albums. The trio gained wider public recognition when their version of Bach's "Air on the G String," which was used in a series of award-winning Benson & Hedges television commercials. Along with leading his trio, Loussier began composing for film and television, issuing soundtracks for projects like 1967's The Killing Game, 1968's The Dark of the Sun, and 1969's You Only Love Once, among others. In the early '70s, he disbanded his trio and settled in Provence, where he opened his own recording studio, Studio Miraval. In addition to producing his own projects there, Miraval has played host to a variety of artists over the years including Elton John, Sting, and Pink Floyd. Away from his trio, Loussier began to expand his musical palette, exploring electronics, funk, and Latin sounds on albums like 1979's Pulsion, and 1982's Pagan Moon. In 1985, inspired by the 300th anniversary of Bach's birth, Loussier formed a second version of his trio, again playing a mix of classical and jazz with many of the added stylistic textures he had adopted since the group's start. Working with his second trio, Loussier continued to find a receptive audience issuing albums like 1996's Jacques Loussier Plays Bach, which landed at number 33 on the Billboard Classical Albums chart.

More albums followed including 1999's Bach Book: 40th Anniversary Album and Ravel: Bolero, both of which featured his signature classical and jazz mix. In 2000, Loussier paired his trio with Turkish pianists Güher and Süher Pekinel for Take Bach. Baroque Favorites: Jazz Improvisations arrived in 2001 and peaked in the Top 50 of the Billboard Classical Albums chart. There were similarly well-regarded recordings of Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. In 2002, Loussier filed a lawsuit against rapper Eminem and executive producer Dr. Dre, claiming that portions of their track "Kill You" were stolen from his composition "Pulsion." The lawsuit was ultimately settled out of court. In 2009, the then-75-year-old pianist issued the trio album Plays Bach: The 50th Anniversary Recording. He then applied his distinctively cross-pollinated voice to Robert Schumann's 1838 composition with 2011's Schumann: Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood). Loussier suffered a stroke in 2011 and retired from performing. He died on March 5, 2019 at a hospital in Blois, in France’s Loire Valley. He was 84 years old. ~ Matt Collar https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jacques-loussier-mn0000122083/biography

Beautiful Love

---

Lee Konitz - Classic Konitz

Styles: Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:52
Size: 131,5 MB
Art: Front

( 4:10)  1. You're Clear Out of this World
( 3:57)  2. East 32nd
( 2:50)  3. My Old Flame
( 4:29)  4. I Remember You
( 5:20)  5. Round Midnight
( 3:01)  6. Skylark
( 4:04)  7. The Daffodil's Smile
( 3:06)  8. Easy Livin'
( 2:22)  9. I've Got It Bad
(11:14) 10. If I Had You
( 3:40) 11. Froggy Day
( 4:10) 12. You Are Too Beautiful
( 4:22) 13. You Don't Know What Love Is

One of the most individual of all altoists (and one of the few in the 1950s who did not sound like a cousin of Charlie Parker), the cool-toned Lee Konitz has always had a strong musical curiosity, leading him to consistently take chances and stretch himself, usually quite successfully. He was a member of Miles Davis' classic '50s nonet, and his early work alongside pianist Lennie Tristano is often cited as an influence on the "free jazz" movement of the '60s. He built upon Tristano's approach on his own albums like 1950's Subconscious-Lee, 1957's Tranquility, and 1967's The Lee Konitz Duets, all of which showcase his sculptural approach to harmony. A longtime associate of the Creative Music Studio since the '70s, Konitz has continued to record distinctive albums, exploring both standards and forward-thinking original material.  Born in 1927 in Chicago, Konitz studied clarinet early on, eventually switching to alto. Following early work with Jerry Wald, he gained some attention for his solos with Claude Thornhill & His Orchestra (1947). 

He began studying with Lennie Tristano, who had a big influence on his conception and approach to improvising. Konitz was with Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool nonet during their one gig and their Capitol recordings (1948-1950), and he recorded with Lennie Tristano's innovative sextet (1949), including the first two free improvisations ever documented. Konitz blended very well with Warne Marsh's tenor (their unisons on "Wow" are miraculous) and would have several reunions with both Tristano and Marsh through the years, but he was also interested in finding his own way; by the early '50s he started breaking away from the Tristano school. Konitz toured Scandinavia (1951), where his cool sound was influential, and he fit in surprisingly well with Stan Kenton & His Orchestra (1952-1954), being featured on many charts by Bill Holman and Bill Russo.  Konitz was primarily a leader from that point on. He almost retired from music in the early '60s but re-emerged a few years later. His recordings have ranged from cool bop to thoughtful free improvisations, and his Milestone set of Duets (1967) is a classic. In the '70s and '80s, Konitz increased his recorded output, issuing consistently stimulating sessions for such labels as SteepleChase, Philogy, Soul Note, and others.

In 1992, he won the prestigious Jazzpar Prize. He kept a busy release schedule throughout the '90s and dabbled in the world of classical music with 2000's French Impressionist Music from the Turn of the Twentieth Century. The Mark Masters Ensemble joined him for 2004's One Day with Lee, and in 2007 he recorded Portology with the Ohad Talmor Big Band. He has recorded on soprano and tenor but has mostly stuck with his distinctive alto.  In 2011, he released his own trio album, Knowinglee, and appeared on the live ECM date Live at Birdland (recorded in 2009) with pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Paul Motian. Three years later, he joined Dan Tepfer, Michael Janisch, and Jeff Williams for First Meeting: Live in London, Vol. 1. The quartet date, Frescalalto, arrived in 2017 and featured the saxophonist alongside pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Kenny Washington. In 2019, Konitz paired with longtime associate saxophonist/arranger Ohad Talmor for the album Old Songs New, a nonet recording focusing on beloved yet less-often-recorded standards. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lee-konitz-mn0000227776/biography

R.I.P.
Born: October 13, 1927 Chicago, Illinois, US
Died:    April 15, 2020 (aged 92) Manhattan, New York City, US

Classic Konitz

---